AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Did I?
Was that what this was all about?
Sighing, I said softly, “I don’t blame you.”
“I saw it in your eyes.” She sniffed. “You wish you’d had the easy way out. That you’d died with them.”
I flinched.
I had no words.
Silence chilled the air around us.
Finally, I shrugged helplessly. “I’m tired, probably have sunstroke, and let my fear run away with me that you’d be drowned by dolphins.” Stepping toward her, my hand came up as if it knew exactly where it belonged. My palm tingled, urging me to do something I really shouldn’t do.
The hurt in her crystal eyes.
The hurt I’d put there.
I stopped fighting the indescribable urge and cupped her cheek.
Platonically.
Gently.
Instinctually.
She sucked in a breath as I touched her like I had this morning when I’d struck her. My fingertips burned, my heart clenched, and another blade of pain cut me deep. She was just a girl. A girl trying to be good and fix all the broken and unhappy in the world.
Could I blame her that I wasn’t ready to be fixed?
That it would take time and most likely a shit ton of space and sadness?
“Özür dilerim. Shit, I keep slipping. I mean...I’m sorry. For hurting you. I didn’t mean what I said. I just...I really miss my family.” My voice was barely loud enough to carry over the salt-heavy air. “I’m sorry for this morning, and I’m sorry for now.” I trembled a little as she wrapped her fingers around my wrist, holding me in place as I went to pull away.
She didn’t speak.
And words got caught on my tongue as I croaked, “You want to know something about me? Fine, I’ll tell you.” My fingertips stung against her soft cheek. “You absolutely terrify me. You’re so alive and sure and painful. And I—”
The whoosh of air and murmur of voices wrenched both our heads up.
I yanked my hand from her cheek, leaving scratches of her fingernails on my wrist as I ripped out of her hold.
Our eyes caught.
The sparks that’d appeared between us from our fight exploded into brighter stars, just as Jack popped up from the staircase, threw his flippers onto the deck, and hauled his heavy bulk with its tank and weight belt onboard. His jaw clenched as Neri linked her hands together and smiled an unconvincing smile. “Hi, Dad.”
Jack froze, hearing things in her tone that I wished he didn’t.
His gaze shot to my wrist and the red lines his daughter had marked me with.
Guilt roared through me; I tucked my arms behind my back like a thief.
Jack looked between us, his stare a solid, flat blue as it settled on me. The connection between Neri and me—a connection that throbbed with my grief and her kindness—a connection that meant nothing more than what it was, was suddenly ever so wrong.
Shame heated my neck; I couldn’t hold Jack’s eyes.
I wanted to tell him it wasn’t what he thought.
